“Turkey has played a critical role as a friendly, neutral, arbiter in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as a regional facilitator, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) contributor and bilateral donor,” stated the report, titled “Country Reports on Terrorism 2010” in its chapter devoted to an overview of terrorism facts in Turkey.
Listing the terrorist organizations the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C) under its list of terrorist organizations as usual, the report also noted that the terrorist PKK pursued acts of violence, particularly increasing its activities from May through October 2010.
With regards to PKK terror, the US report stated it was “the most prominent among terrorist groups in Turkey” and that it was composed “primarily of ethnic Kurds with a nationalist agenda.” It was further acknowledged in the report that the PKK operated from bases in northern Iraq and commanded its forces to target mainly Turkish security forces. The number of PKK terrorists was estimated at around 4,000-5,000, mostly located in the north of Iraq.
The report listed “ambushes on military patrols in the countryside, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) along known military or police routes and bombings of both security and civilian targets in urban areas” as some of the typical tactics and techniques of the terrorist organization, which claimed a nationwide reach as demonstrated by the increased attacks in 2010. The report also cited three attacks that received particular condemnation due to the extent of the violence, killing and injuring civilians and security forces in Hakkari, a border city in the Southeast, as well as in the most populous city, İstanbul.
